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The Wreckers (opera)
''The Wreckers'' is an opera in three acts, composed by Dame Ethel Smyth to a libretto in French by Henry Brewster. After spending considerable energy in trying to get the work performed in French, the first performance took place in a German translation by John Bernhoff, under the title of ''Strandrecht'', at the Neues Theater, Leipzig on 11 November 1906. Smyth persisted in her attempts to see it staged elsewhere, but it was not until the conductor Thomas Beecham championed the work that a complete, staged performance was achieved in England in 1909 with funding support from her friend Mary Dodge. Describing the opera in the '' New Grove Dictionary'', Stephen Banfield notes "Its greatest strength is in its dramatic strategy, strikingly prophetic of (Britten's) ''Peter Grimes'' in details such as the offstage church service set against the foreground confrontation in Act 1." However, Amanda Holden makes the point that, musically, Smyth is "no Wagnerite, she makes use of his mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Smyth
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended to be marginalised as a ‘woman composer’, as though her work could not be accepted as mainstream. Yet when she produced more delicate compositions, they were criticised for not measuring up to the standard of her male competitors. Nevertheless, she was granted a damehood, the first female composer to be so honoured. Family background Ethel Smyth was the fourth of eight children. The youngest was Robert ("Bob") Napier Smyth (1868–1947), who rose to become a Brigadier in the British Army. She was the aunt of Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Eastwood. She was born in Sidcup, Kent, which is now in the London Borough of Bexley. While 22 April is the actual day of her birth, Smyth habitually stated it was 23 April, the day that was celebrated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect, which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century. Born in Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire) to Jewish parents of humble origins, the German-speaking Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American conducting, conductor, educator, and scholar serving as the President of Bard College. Biography 1946–1975: Early life, education, and career Botstein was born in Zürich, Switzerland in 1946. The son of Polish-Jewish physicians, Botstein immigrated to New York City at the age of two. Interested in music from an early age, he studied violin with Roman Totenberg and, during the summers, studied with faculty from the Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Mexico), National Conservatory in Mexico City. At the age of sixteen, Botstein graduated from the The High School of Music and Art, High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago, where he graduated in history and philosophy. While an undergraduate, he was concertmaster and assistant conductor of the University orchestra and founded University of Chicago’s chamber orchestra. His music tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaddeus Strassberger
Thaddeus Strassberger (born 1976) is an American, Italian and Cherokee Nation citizen who works as an opera director and scenic, costume, lighting and video designer in over fifteen countries around the world Biography Born to parents of Cherokee, Irish and German descent, Strassberger grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He is also an Italian citizen. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1994, and in 2016 was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. He won a Fulbright Fellowship which enabled him to study at La Scala in Milan in 2000/2001 where he graduated from the with a diploma in scenic design realisation. During the first several years of his career he worked as an assistant director for opera productions at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, La Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, the Badisches St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Symphony Orchestra
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski whose mission is to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable for all audiences. Leon Botstein is the orchestra's music director and principal conductor. They perform regularly at Carnegie Hall and Symphony Space in New York City. History Stokowski was 80 years old when he founded the orchestra. He served as music director together with assistant Amos Meller until May 1972 when, at the age of 90, he returned to England. Following Maestro Stokowski's departure, Kazuyoshi Akiyama was appointed music director from 1973 to 1978. Music directors during the early 1980s included as principal conductors, Moshe Atzmon and Giuseppe Patanè. In 1985, John Mauceri assumed the post as music director. In 1991, Catherine Comet left her post at the end of her tenure with the orchestra and was succeeded by Bard College president Leon Botstein. Present day Under mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall For Cornwall
Hall for Cornwall, known as Truro City Hall until 1997, is an events venue in Boscawen Street in Truro, Cornwall, England. The building, which was previously the headquarters of Truro City Council, is a Grade II* listed building. History The first municipal building in Truro was a 17th-century market house, which was arcaded on the ground floor so that markets could be held, with an assembly hall on the first floor. It was replaced with a more substantial structure in 1809 but when that was also found to be inadequate, civic leaders commissioned a new building on the same site in the early 1840s. The new building was designed by Christopher Eales in the Italianate style, built in granite ashlar stone and completed in 1846. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Boscawen Street; the ground floor was arcaded and rusticated, while the first floor had sash windows with triangular pediments on the central and outer windows and with segmental pedi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the BBC Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941. It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium spaces. Over its 151 year history the hall has hosted people from various fields, including meetings by Suffragettes, speeches from Winston Churchi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odaline De La Martinez
Odaline de la Martinez (born 31 October 1949) is a Cuban-American composer and conductor, currently residing in the UK. She is the artistic director of Lontano, a London-based contemporary music ensemble which she co-founded in 1976 with New Zealander flautist Ingrid Culliford, and was the first woman to conduct at the BBC Promenade Concerts (the Proms) in 1984. As well as frequent appearances as a guest conductor with leading orchestras throughout Great Britain, including all the BBC orchestras, she has conducted several leading ensembles around the world, including the Ensemble 2e2m in Paris; the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; the Australian Youth Orchestra; the OFUNAM and the Camerata of the Americas in Mexico; and the Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. She is also known as a broadcaster for BBC Radio and Television and has recorded extensively for several labels. Biography Odaline de la Martinez was born in 1949 in Matanzas and grew up in Jovellanos, a cane-sugar manufacturing t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Philharmonic
The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at MediaCityUK, Salford. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. History The 2ZY Orchestra was formed in 1922 for a Manchester radio station of the same name. It gave the first broadcast performances of many famous English works, including Elgar's ''Dream of Gerontius'' and ''Enigma Variations'' and Holst's ''The Planets''. The orchestra was part-funded by the British Broadcasting Company (precursor of the BBC), and renamed the Northern Wireless Orchestra in 1926. When the BBC Symphony Orchestra was established in London in 1930, the new Corporation cut its regional orchestras' funding. The Northern Wireless Orchestra was downsized to just nine players, and renamed the Northern Studio Orchestra. Three years la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huddersfield Choral Society
Huddersfield Choral Society is a choir based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1836, and is recognised as one of Britain's leading choirs. Over the years the choir has performed most of the major works in the choral repertoire, and has had numerous works commissioned for it, including works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Walton. The choir has made numerous recordings and broadcasts. Two of its albums made an appearance in the UK Albums Chart. These were ''The Hymns Album'' (1986, #8) and ''The Carols Album'' (1986, #29). The choir performs regularly with the leading orchestras in the north of England, including the Orchestra of Opera North, The Hallé, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and the Northern Sinfonia. The choir performs with many leading conductors, known by the choir as their 'family' of conductors instead of having one Principal Conductor. Martyn Brabbins is Music Director of the society and other notable cond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Wilson-Johnson
David Wilson-Johnson (born 16 November 1950, in Northampton) is a British operatic and concert baritone. Career David Wilson-Johnson was educated at Wellingborough School, and studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. As a singer he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won the Dove Prize for most distinguished student. In 1976, Wilson-Johnson made his operatic debut in Henze's ''"We Come to the River"'' at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, where he subsequently sang important roles in many operas. In 2006, he decided to retire from the stage production of opera performance, but return to stage ''Swallow'' for ''"Peter Grimes"'' (dir. Willy Decker / cond. Yutaka Sado) at Teatro Regio di Torino in 201 He is still involved in giving concerts (including opera's concert version) worldwide with the major orchestras and recitals with his regular pianist David Owen Norris. David Wilson-Johnson was Professor of Singing at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justin Lavender
Justin Lavender (born 4 June 1951) is an operatic tenor, a professor of vocal studies at the Royal College of Music and co-founder and Musical Director of Arcadian Opera. He was educated at Bedford Modern School, Queen Mary College London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Although he initially intended to train as a nuclear engineer he was persuaded by Sir Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten to pursue a career in music. Following his debut in 1980 as Nadir in Bizet's ''Les pêcheurs de perles'' at the Sydney Opera House, Lavender has performed with most of the world's major orchestras and opera companies. In addition to his operatic performances, Lavender is a professor of vocal studies at the Royal College of Music, an honorary professor of the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University, and from 2009 to 2020 was vocal consultant to the Choir of King's College Chapel, Cambridge. In 2015 Lavender co-founded the community opera company, Arcadian Opera, which performs reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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